It warmed her heart to watch Gart fight off her boys, grabbing Brendt so the child hung upside down in his arms and using his knees to shove Romney and Orin away. Lacy had her arms around his neck and was giving him big, sloppy kisses evenas he wrestled with the boys. The enormous knight that grown men were afraid of was enjoying every minute of it. He had four very young and very adoring admirers.
And one woman who loved him deeply.
CHAPTER TEN
Early July, 1204 A.D.
“My lady?” Gartaddressed Emberley as he entered the great hall of Dunster. “You should come to the kitchens and see the impressive buck that your sons killed.”
The afternoon was warm, lazy, with a stiff sea breeze blowing off the ocean. It made the outside air sticky with moisture and salt. The great hall of Dunster was a nice cool spot, dry, smelling of smoke and old rushes. It had been quiet and peaceful until Gart and the boys had broken the spell.
Emberley smiled at Romney and Orin, who were flanking Gart with faces full of pride. She set down the sewing in her hand, a lovely little dress that she was making for Lacy. It was blue with embroidered flowers around the neck. Spread out all over the table were her sewing things as she mended breeches and sewed little dresses. Although the servants could do the work, she enjoyed it.
“A buck?” she lifted her eyebrows at her boys, then Gart. “I thought you were teaching them to ride. You said nothing about hunting.”
Gart nodded. “I was teaching them to ride, but we were interrupted by a three point buck. Rom and Orin are very good with a crossbow.”
She tried to keep the shock from her expression. “Crossbow?” she repeated. “Those weapons are bigger than they are.”
“I held it and they pulled the trigger.”
The boys were nodding proudly throughout Gart and Emberley’s exchange. They seemed so genuinely happy that Emberley didn’t have the heart to scold Gart for allowing her sons around something as dangerous as a hair-trigger crossbow.
“Come and see our buck, Mama,” Romney reached out and grabbed her hand. “We will feed everyone with it and Gart said he will have a man make shoes from the hide.”
Emberley let Romney pull her from the great hall. Orin was running on ahead, jumping up and down and shouting about the buck. Gart brought up the rear, a lazy smile on his face as he watched the boys dance around, yanking on Emberley’s arm.
She looked over her shoulder to make sure he was following, smiling when their eyes met. Gart’s smile broadened and he winked at her. It made his heart swell simply to look at her. The past seven weeks at Dunster had been just like heaven. Tucked away in their own little world, he could pretend that Emberley and the children belonged to him. They played together every day and at night after the children went to bed, Gart would sneak into Emberley’s bower and make love to her most of the night. He couldn’t ever remember being happier, safely shielded in this little corner of paradise with a woman he deeply adored.
Days like today had become commonplace. He would spend his time with the boys during the day, teaching them about riding or battle, schooling them as he had often schooled pages and squires in the past. All three boys were fast learners, eager, and they had all become quite attached to each other. Gart always made sure he returned to his own bedchamber before the children woke up because every morning at dawn, three eager little boys woke him up. It was the best thing he could wake up to, this part of life he had never known existed.
As Gart thought of the joys of the past several weeks, watching Emberley’s shapely backside in the process, the group rounded the corner of the towering keep and entered the kitchen yard. The big buck was lying in the middle of the yard, surrounded by a couple of male servants and the cook as they figured out the best way to go about butchering it. Romney made sure to tell the cook that he killed the buck and the fat woman was very proud of him.
“Good heavens,” Emberley exclaimed softly. “That is a very big deer. We will have lots of meat from him.”
Romney and Orin were nearly bursting with satisfaction. “Gart said we could kill another one the next time, too,” Romney said. “Can I have my own crossbow, Mama?”
Emberley shook her head. “You may not,” she said. “It is not that I do not trust you, but a seven-year-old boy simply does not need a weapon like that.”
“But I will be able to feed the castle,” Romney insisted, looking at Gart. “Do you think I am big enough to have one?”
Gart didn’t want to get in the middle of the debate. “If your mother says you must wait, then you will listen to her,” he told the boy. “Her decision is the one we will abide by.”
Romney didn’t seem pleased but he kept his mouth shut. Not wanting to crush her son’s spirit, Emberley hastened to reassure him.
“You did a fine job, sweetheart,” she told him. “I am very proud of you. Go find Gerta now and I will meet you in the hall for the nooning meal.”
Romney obeyed his mother, taking Orin with him. As Emberley eyed the big buck, Gart noticed that the cook and the two servants had moved back into the kitchens to find a knife big enough to cut the buck with. It was just him and Emberley left in the yard as he faced her.
“Did I do a fine job, also?” he asked softly.
She looked at him, a smile playing on her lips. “You did, sweetheart. I am proud of you as well.”
He smiled at her. “Just so you are aware, I had a crossbow when I was Rom’s age. My father commissioned it for me.”
Her smile left her and she flattened her lips irritably. “Did Rom coerce you into begging on his behalf?”
Gart laughed. “He did not. I am begging of my own accord. Boys must be allowed to become men.”
